The Kids Aren't Alright
by L-Space
Summary: The story of the iCarly gang in their junior year of high school. Jealousy, love, agnst and a hint of comedy all come together for your enjoyment. I have added a couple of original characters. Had to change rating... Please read and review? I think so...
1. iJust Moved Here

**iCarly: The Kids Aren't Alright**

_A Fanfiction by L-Space_

**Author's Note: Nickelodeon has the honor to claim the rights to iCarly and all of its associated characters and ideas. Sadly, I do not.**

Chapter One: iJust Moved Here

The drive to Ridgeway seemed to be a long one, and it made Emma Daniels sick to her stomach. Not only would she be the new kid in school, she was also the new kid in the city. She and her sister, Liberty, made the move to Seattle from Canada a few short days ago. "Don't worry about a thing, Em." Liberty said, quickly glancing to her right. "If you want, I can come pick you up at any time. All you have to do is call."

"Really?" Emma asked. She shot her sister a wary look. "So… can we just go home now?"

"No." Liberty stated. Emma groaned. "Look, if we go home now, that just means tomorrow morning will be just like right now. At least stick it out until lunch, okay?"

Emma sighed. "Fine. But you better be expecting a phone call right when the lunch bell rings." Liberty smirked and pulled the car to the curb. Emma grabbed her backpack from the floor, slipped her cell into her pocket and waved to Liberty as she shut the car door. She turned and faced the school. It wasn't a huge one, as her old one had been. It was a little familiar since Ridgeway held grades five through twelve. Emma slung her bag over her shoulder and headed for the front doors.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Carly Shay walked into her history class to see Freddie Benson was the first person to get in class, as he always was. She took the seat behind him, not wanting to be in the front of the class. "Good morning, Carly." Freddie said, turning in his seat. "You're looking lovely, as always."

"Hey, Freddie." Carly said as she placed her binder on her desk. "So, first day as a Junior in high school. How does it feel?"

"Like crap." Carly and Freddie both looked up at Sam Puckett, who lazily flung herself into the seat next to Carly.

"You're as pleasant as always, Sam." Freddie stated, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"Watch it, Benson."

"Alright, class, let's get seated." Their new history teacher, Mr. Armstrong, set his briefcase on his desk. "My name is Mr. Armstrong. I will be your history teacher as well as homeroom. We'll get along great so long as there is no illegal activity and you do your homework. Are we all clear?"

"Well, I guess that doesn't include Sam." Freddie muttered.

"I heard that, Freddison." Sam shot back.

Mr. Armstrong's head snapped in their direction. "If we can't play nice, I'll have to give out assigned seating." He shook his index finger as a warning. Freddie and Sam pointed at one another. "Alright. First order of business, schedules. When I call your name, come up here and get your class schedule." He shuffled the papers for a moment. "Benson, Freddie. Shay, Carly. Gibby?" He paused and looked up at the class.

Gibby stood in the back of the class. "Yes, sir?"

"Gibby… what kind of name is that?"

"A good one?" Mr. Armstrong stared for a moment. "Can I get my schedule now?"

"Yes. Here." He looked back down at the papers. "Daniels, Emma."

No answer.

"Daniels, Emma?" He tried again. Still no response. He looked back up at the class. "Does anyone know Emma Daniels?"

"Oh, that's me." The whole class turned towards the door to look at the new girl. "Sorry I'm late. It won't happen again, I promise."

"It's alright." Mr. Armstrong said, handing her a schedule. "Please have a seat."

The rest of homeroom consisted of Mr. Armstrong handing out the rest of the schedules and explaining rules of conduct. The bell rang just as he finished his lecture about bringing back the first page of the student handbook signed by a parent or guardian. Most of the students filed out of the room to get to their first class.

Freddie had history first. He glanced around the room to see who else did. He noticed the new girl sitting towards the back of the class. Freddie gathered his things and took the seat next to her. "Hey, it's Emma, right?"

She looked up at him. "Yeah. Emma Daniels."

"I'm Freddie Benson. Your accent… it's Canadian, right?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"I know things." He smirked at her. "So when did you move here?"

"Middle of last week, actually. My sister got a job out here, so naturally we move."

"What about your parents?"

"They died a few years back."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Emma looked down at her twiddling thumbs. Freddie sighed. "Do you mind if I ask how?"

"Moose accident."

"A moose killed your parents?"

"Well, the moose walked into the middle of the street. Dad tried not to hit it."

"Oh wow. I'm really sorry." Freddie repeated.

"It's okay. Really." She grinned at him. Freddie smiled back and the bell sounded for history to begin.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To their surprise, Emma and Freddie had second and third period together as well. "So, you wanna have lunch with me and my friends?" Freddie asked as the lunch bell rang. He had already packed up his notebooks and now stood by her desk as she gathered hers. "You'll love Carly and Sam. Well, you'll love Carly, anyway."

"I have to make a call first, actually." Emma said as she zipped up her bag. "I'll, uh, catch up with you later?"

"Yeah, sure." Emma smiled at him and walked out the door. Reluctantly, Freddie joined Sam and Carly.

"Where's your new girlfriend, Fredweird?" Sam called as he got near. "She break up with you already?"

"Sam, stop it." Carly said. "She's new and Freddie was just being nice. Right, Freddie?"

"Yeah." Freddie answered, sitting in a chair across from the two girls.

"If she's not your girlfriend, then why are you so upset now that she's not here?" Sam teased again. "You guys looked so happy together in chemistry."

"You're not even in chemistry." Freddie said loudly.

"So? I ditched theatre and spied on you."

"Why would you even do that?" Freddie asked. "Are you stalking me?"

"Why would anyone stalk you?" Sam argued. She stood and glared down at him.

"Well, I don't know." Freddie now stood and looked her dead in the eye. "Maybe because they're in love with me and jealous of Emma."

Carly's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Freddie kept his stare going as Sam's eyes narrowed and jaw dropped. "Me? In love with you?" She said quietly.

"Who wants some pudding?" Carly said, also standing and putting her hands between the two. Neither looked at her. "It's a swirl of vanilla and chocolatey goodness!"

"I'm not hungry." Freddie replied.

"Yeah. Me neither." Sam said. They both stormed off, leaving Carly holding a pudding cup and a bewildered expression on her face. She was even more shocked to see Sam walk back and grab the pudding cup, stating that she was lying about not being hungry.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"That's great, Em. I'm glad you're making friends."

"Yeah, it's not as bad as I made it out to be." Emma said. "So, how's the job going?"

Liberty sighed. "Well, work is mostly slow when you're an artist." She answered. "I spoke with my boss and he said there hasn't been a client all week. So now I'm looking for some kind of job to support us."

"You'll find something."

"I know. Have a good day at school."

"I don't get to come home early?" Emma whined.

"You made friends!" Liberty replied. "Why would you ditch them like that?"

"Fine." Emma sighed. "I'll stay at school."


	2. iLike The New Girl

**iCarly: The Kids Aren't Alright**

_A Fanfiction by L-Space_

**Author's Note: Once again, I am sad to announce that I do not own iCarly or any of its characters. And with that sad bit of news, please enjoy!**

Chapter Two: iLike The New Girl

Carly and Sam waited in the iCarly studio, where Freddie was supposed to have joined them a few minutes prior for rehearsal. Carly paced the length of the studio while Sam lounged in one of the bean bag chairs, resting her feet on the bumper of their decorative car. "Where is Freddie? He was supposed to be here ten minutes ago!" Carly exclaimed.

"You'll be asking where the floor is next, once you burn a hole in it from pacing so much." Sam said lazily. She threw one of the multicolored index cards onto the floor. Carly huffed and threw herself down into the other bean bag. "Index card?" Carly grabbed the card that Sam held out. She looked at it for a second then bit off the corner of it. "If you didn't like that idea, you didn't have to eat it." Sam stated. Carly shot her an angry glare. "But, you know, eating it is okay too…"

"I just don't get it." Carly said. "Why is Freddie so late? And he didn't even call or text. He hardly misses iCarly rehearsals."

Sam sat up straight. "He'll be here, Carly. He has no life." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the studio door opened. "Freddie! You're dead!" Sam shouted, not even looking back.

Carly stood. "Where have you been? Why didn't you text? Don't you know that it's time to rehearse?"

"Carly, calm down!" Freddie said. "I'm sorry. I was helping Emma with her chemistry homework and I lost track of time." He walked over to his equipment stand. "Are we ready to go?"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"That was a great rehearsal." Freddie said as he set the camera back onto his stand. "Great job, Carly. Sam, you did okay." Neither of the girls said anything to him. "Carly? Sam?"

"Not now, Benson." Sam shot at him. Carly still hadn't so much as look at him.

"But what's wrong?" Freddie asked. Sam gave him a hard glare. "Should I just-"

"You should." Freddie gave one last pleading gaze to Carly before walking out of the studio. Sam turned back to Carly. "Carls? You ok? You've never not spoken to Freddie."

Carly sighed. "I know. I'm just so… all week it's been nothing but Emma. And now he blows off iCarly for her? I just don't get it." She sat down on one of the bean bag chairs.

"Carly Shay. Don't tell me you're jealous."

"What? Me? Why would you say that?"

"You're upset because Freddie's hanging out with another girl." Sam stated, taking a seat next to her friend. "Are you in love with Freddie?"

"What? No!" Carly argued. "I am most certainly not in love with Freddie."

Sam nodded slowly. "Now can you look me in the eye and say that?"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Freddie sat in his room alone. He couldn't think about Carly. When he did, the image of how hurt she looked swam in his head. He sighed and grabbed his vibrating cell phone. He had just received a text from Emma. _Great timing._ He thought._ I could use a distraction._

_"Hey Freddie. Sorry I made you late for rehearsal.  
__How did it go?"_

He replied:

_"Great. Carly's mad at me now."_

His phone started ringing. "Hey, Emma." He answered.

"_Why is she mad at you?"_ Emma asked.

"I don't really know. But after rehearsals, she wouldn't even look at me. Then Sam told me to leave. I haven't heard from either of them since."

"_Oh wow… I'm so sorry, Freddie. If I knew that-"_

"It's not your fault, Em." Freddie sighed. "It's mine."

"_How?"_

"Well… it's hard to explain." Freddie said.

"_I'm here to talk whenever you want to."_

"Yeah. I know." Freddie replied. "We can talk now. I mean, if you're willing to meet up with me."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Carly and Sam went to the Groovy Smoothie to get their mind of the rehearsal mishap. They sat at their usual table with the smoothies they bought with Spencer's money. "I can not believe you thought I was in love with him!" Carly laughed, taking a sip of her strawberry banana smoothie.

Sam laughed, too. "I know. Do you know how hard it was to say that with a straight face?"

"Well, me and Freddie are strictly friends. Who cares if he gets a new girlfriend? It's not like it hasn't happened before."

"So then, that won't bug you at all right?" Sam asked. She nodded her head towards the back wall. Carly turned in her seat to see Freddie and Emma in one of the most private tables of the popular hangout. She turned back to her smoothie. "Does it?"

"No." Carly mumbled. She played with her straw.

Sam bit her lower lip, still looking in Freddie's direction. She hated to see Carly so upset. She really hated to see Carly deny feeling so upset. _Something needs to be done…_ She thought. _But what?_

"I know that face." Carly said suddenly. Sam rearranged her face to appear shocked and hurt.

"Whatever do you mean, Carly?" She asked innocently.

"You're planning something. I can tell. And whatever it is you're planning, you should stop planning it."

"I am not planning anything." Sam protested. Carly's expression showed that she didn't believe a word of it. Sam didn't say anything, just sipped on her pina colada.

"I wonder what they're saying." Carly said quietly. Sam looked at her inquiringly. "Well. You know. I'm sure Freddie will tell us. Tomorrow. Or text us."

"You really want to go spy on them, don't you?"

"I really do." Carly replied. They grabbed their drinks and silently crept to the booth behind Freddie's.

"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about, Freddie?" They heard Emma ask.

"Well, I'm not sure if this is the reason Carly's mad at me, but I'm pretty sure." Freddie replied. He put his arm on the back of his seat, Sam had to duck her head quickly to avoid being touched. "I think it's because we've been spending a lot of time together this past week."

"Oh. I get it." Emma said quietly. "So, you don't want to hang around me as much. That's cool… I mean, you've known Carly and Sam for much longer, it only makes sense that you choose them over me."

"Emma, I'm not choosing them over you." Freddie said. The girls heard him lean off the back of his bench. "Emma, hear me out. What I'm saying is… well, the reason I want to hang out with you so much is because… I like you."

The table was quiet. Carly's jaw dropped and Sam appeared to be trying very hard to keep from laughing. Carly shot her a warning look. "Sorry." Sam mouthed and they continued listening.

"Wow. Freddie." Emma said. "I didn't expect this."

"Oh… well, if you don't like me, that's cool"

"Freddie, no. I like you too." Sam looked back at Carly. Carly's face dropped and she couldn't make eye contact with Sam.


	3. iParty Hard

**iCarly: The Kids Aren't Alright**

_A Fanfiction by L-Space_

**Author's Note: iStill can't believe iDon't own iCarly. I know I rated this story T, and it's getting there. iPromise! Please enjoy and review!**

Chapter Three: iParty Hard

"I don't think that's a good idea, Carly."

"Please, Spencer? I'll do anything!" Carly bounced on the couch next to Spencer, who was trying to watch television. "Come on!"

"Give me one good reason why I should let you throw a party here this weekend?" Spencer asked, turning his attention away from the screen.

"Because you love parties." Carly raised an eyebrow.

Spencer took a deep breath. "That, I do. What do we need?" Carly beamed at her brother.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Spencer's actually going to let you have a party?" Sam asked.

"Yes!" Carly squealed. She posted a green flyer to the student bulletin board. "And the whole junior class is invited."

"All of them?" Sam asked, pointing towards Freddie's locker. As Carly looked over, she saw that Freddie had Emma pinned to his locker and they were kissing in a way that seemed like it was going to go one step further at any second. Sam gave her a questioning glance.

Carly cringed as she saw Freddie's hand go lower and lower on Emma's side, but still answered, "Yes. All of them." She tore her eyes away from the horrific public display of affection and headed for the classroom.

"How long are you going to be in denial?" Sam said, following Carly into their government class. Carly was clearly ignoring her and pretended to be interested in _Chapter Twelve: The Branches of Government_. "Hello?" Sam said loudly, slamming the text book shut.

"Ow!" Carly cried. "That used to be my hand!"

"How long are you going to be in denial?" Sam repeated.

Carly dropped her gaze. "I don't know what you're talking about." She was grateful when Mrs. Roberts entered the room and began the lesson.

Sam didn't give up so easily. As soon as the lecture started, she grabbed her note book and ripped out a piece of paper. She spent a few minutes scribbling on it before folding it hastily and tossing it onto Carly's desk.

**So? How long are you going to keep denying that you are in love with Freddie?**

Carly glanced at Sam, who wasn't even pretending to listen to the teacher. She stared back down at the note. The words "_in love_ _with Freddie_" popped out at her. She grabbed for her pen and replied.

_I am not in love with Freddie. I just don't want to see him get hurt__._

A few minutes after giving the note to Sam, she got it back.

**You and I both know that he'd rather be with you.**

Carly didn't respond. _If that were true,_ she thought, _he wouldn't look so happy with her._ She couldn't pay attention to the rest of the lesson and nearly fell out of her desk when the bell rang. She and Sam walked to the cafeteria quietly.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sam came home with Carly, like she did every other day. While they were at school, Spencer had gone out and bought party decorations, which were now strewn across the apartment. "What happened in here?" Carly asked.

"It looks like a piñata threw up on your couch." Sam answered.

"Gross." Carly replied. They set their backpacks on the counter as Carly went to the fridge to get snacks. "Woah." The fridge was filled to the brim with sodas, snacks and on the very bottom shelf, Carly could see alcohol.

"So, I see you found your party favors." Spencer said, suddenly appearing at her side.

"Spencer, what's with the alcohol?" Carly asked. "You don't drink."

Spencer looked at the many flavors of Smirnoff and then back at Carly. "Yeah, those are for you."

"What?!" Both girls exclaimed.

"Well, I thought that since you guys were growing up and wanted a party, I presumed you would have tried to sneak alcohol in anyway. So I just bought it for you." Spencer explained.

"Sweet." Sam said. "You got the best big brother ever, Carls."

"So, we can really drink that?" Carly asked Spencer. He nodded. "And you won't be mad?" He shook his head. Sam grinned. "I think we got ourselves a party."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

That Saturday, Carly and Sam rushed to decorate the apartment. "I think Spencer went overboard with the décor." Carly joked.

"I know." Sam agreed. "No drunken idiot is going to stand here and admire the streamers and balloons. All they're thinking is 'Where's the toilet?'" The girls laughed. "So, are you really okay with Freddie and Emma?"

"Why does this always come up?" Carly asked, exasperated. "Yes. I am fine with Freddie dating whoever he chooses. And no, I am not in love with him." Sam rolled her eyes and nodded.

Within hours, the room transformed into the ultimate party zone. Spencer had replaced all the light bulbs with black lights and brought down the strobe light from the studio. They had orange streamers hanging from anywhere within reach and the island in the kitchen was decked out with snacks. "Nice job, Carly Shay."

"Not so bad of a job yourself, Samantha." Carly replied. "People will be arriving soon. Wanna start the music?" Sam picked up the stereo remote and the room filled with the sound of the bass thumping.

Guests arrived in floods. Every student in the junior class seemed to be present, much to Carly's enjoyment. With that many people at her house, she would be distracted from the Freddie situation. Luckily, Sam didn't seem to have figured that part of the plan out yet. Carly made her way through the crowd and to the fridge where she grabbed herself a green apple Smirnoff. As she popped off the cap and took a sip, she noticed that Sam had found someone to occupy herself with, which added to Carly's enjoyment.

The students were so mashed together; it was hard to tell who was dancing with whom. None of them seemed to mind either way. The music faded from heavy bass to hypnotic trance and even to the occasional slow song. Most of the boys decided to take a break and grab drinks during the slow songs, which left the girls to dance among themselves. During one of the breaks, Sam managed to grab hold of Carly and drag her to the middle of the mosh. "Are you not even going to ask Freddie to dance?" She asked over the music.

"Why would I?" Carly asked. "He's dancing with his girlfriend. I don't want to interrupt."

"You're his friend, Carls." Sam insisted. "She can't tell him not to dance with his best friend." Despite Sam's many attempts, Carly refused to make eye contact yet again. "Carly, if you like him, you need to let him know. He's liked you for years."

"I know that. It's just…"

"You don't want him to think you like him just because he's got a girlfriend?" Sam finished for her. Carly fought not to twitch as Sam had guessed exactly what she was thinking. _She has that annoying gift,_ Carly thought as she walked back into the kitchen.

A few Smirnoff's later, Carly had forgotten all about her previous conversation with Sam. She jumped onto the coffee table as _Time is Running Out_ by The Muse came on, grabbing the microphone to her karaoke machine and sang along. She got a lot of wolf whistles from the boys as she took off her white Henley and was left wearing a cranberry red spaghetti strap that was very low cut in the chest and barely made it to her belly button.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Freddie had never had so much to drink in his life, and he was pretty sure Emma was long gone as well. Emma's chocolate brown hair fell from its ponytail and hung lazily about her shoulders. She was wearing a baby blue shirt that didn't cover her shoulders and a lacey black tank underneath. It had taken him five minutes to realize that his hand was securely fastened to the hook of her bra, and hers were in his pant pockets. He grinned at her and she stood on her tiptoes so that she could kiss him along his jaw line. Freddie's body tingled and he could feel the goose bumps rising as she made her way to his ear. He knew exactly what she wanted, and he wanted it just as bad.

"Do you wanna get out of here?" She whispered. Her breath tickled his ear. He looked down at her again, his dark brown eyes met with her pale green ones. He smiled again and lead her out of Carly's living room, looking back to see Carly taking off her grey shirt while she pretended to be a rock star.

They walked across the hall and into Freddie's apartment. He was so glad that his mom had gone on a weekend retreat with one of her many groups. He took Emma into his room and shut the door behind them. As he turned back to face her, she threw her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist. He walked as best as he could to his bed and slowly lowered her onto it. Once she was sitting up straight, she ran her hands up Freddie's shirt, encouraging him to take it off. She immediately went for his belt buckle and let his pants drop to the floor.

Freddie knelt on the floor by his bed and helped Emma take off both of her shirts. He reached around her back and fiddled with the clasp of her bra until that, too, came off. He left one hand on her back to help ease her onto the pillows and let the other one drift down towards her Bermuda shorts.

They both laid on Freddie's bed kissing passionately.


	4. iLost It

**iCarly: The Kids Aren't Alright**

_A Fanfiction by L-Space_

Chapter Four: iLost It

Freddie awoke the next morning blinded by the sunshine that was seeping through his bedroom window. Groggily, he sat up and gazed around his room. He had trouble remembering what happened to him the night before, only bits and pieces were coming back to him. Shaking his head, he threw the covers off of him and placed his feet on the ground. His left foot hit something that didn't feel like the floor. Freddie looked down at what the foreign object was.

A pair of lacey black and pink panties stared back at him.

* * *

Emma walked down the stairs and immediately made her way to the refrigerator. She grabbed a plain bagel and placed it into the toaster then reached for the cream cheese. She shut the fridge and was suddenly face to face with Liberty. "Hey, Sis."

Liberty's lips formed a tight line. _This is not a good sign..._ Emma thought. "Hey, Emma." Liberty said firmly. "So, just what were you thinking last night?"

"What do you mean?" Emma asked.

"Well," Liberty started. Emma knew she was in for it. Liberty never started things off with _'Well.'_ "I went to Carly's to pick you up, as we agreed. Her brother informed me that you and Freddie had left in the middle of the party." She paused. Emma glanced at the floor. "Spencer also informed me that you had a few drinks last night. We never discussed alcohol being at this party."

"I didn't know." Emma protested.

"Then what is your cell phone for?" Liberty raised her voice. "You should have called me and at least told me there was alcohol. That's very irresponsible of you, Emma. I brought you with me to Seattle only because you said you would behave. I don't want you getting mixed up in the wrong crowd like you did in Toronto."

"Freddie is nothing like Craig was!" Emma shouted back. "But if you don't want me here, then just fucking tell me and I'll pack my bags and go back to Aunt Kate's like you wanted me to do before!"

"I never said I didn't want you here." Liberty lowered her voice. Emma could tell she took it too far. Her sister worked hard to take care of everything. "Are you really that ungrateful? After everything I do for you… I even used my college funds to bail you out of jail when you and your punk boyfriend decided to graffiti City Hall."

They stood in silence. Emma's bagel popped, but she stayed rooted to her spot. Liberty held her hand over her mouth and shook her head slowly, not making eye contact.

Liberty sighed. "I wish there was a way for you to just try to go back to the way you used to be. Why don't you try out for spirit squad or something. Anything to keep you from falling into bad habits again."

"I won't." Emma said.

Liberty didn't say anything for a minute. Then she said, "So are you going to tell me what happened with you and Freddie?"

"Do I have to right this second?" Emma asked, hoping to get out of telling her. Liberty gave her a hard, questioning gaze. "Okay…" Emma sighed, obviously defeated. "We went back to Freddie's house and we ended up having sex."

Again, Liberty said nothing.

"Liberty?"

"You're grounded."

* * *

She didn't remember falling asleep on the floor, yet that is where Carly woke up. She looked up at her ceiling. The many streamers and decoration she and Sam put up the day before were ripped and falling. Carly lifted herself up onto her elbows, her eyes going blurry from sitting up too fast. Her head was throbbing with pain, so she went to Spencer's bathroom to get the Tylenol. She opened the door to find a girl she only knew by appearance passed out in the shower. Carly grabbed the medicine and walked back out to the living room to look for Sam.

It didn't take long. Her best friend was at the kitchen table with an enormous pile of bacon in front of her. Sam gazed up at Carly, a bit of bacon hanging out of her mouth. "Hey, Carls. How'd ya sleep?"

"I guess I slept okay…" Carly answered. "But my head is killing me." She filled a glass with water and sat at the table. "What all happened last night?"

"Too drunk to remember?" Sam joked. "Don't worry. I recorded it using Freddie's camera. I thought you would ask." Carly nodded as she swallowed her pills.

"And… what happened with Freddie?"

"Oh. That." Sam's hopes of not having to answer this question were crushed. How could she tell Carly that Freddie had left with Emma during the party? Even worse, how could she tell her that they may have had sex?

"What do you mean 'Oh. That?'" Carly asked as she grabbed a piece of the bacon.

"Well," Sam's mind reeled. What could she say? "Freddie got sick and left. Too much beer or something." _Oh yeah. Good one, Sam,_ she thought bitterly to herself.

"Oh." Carly replied. "Well, maybe we should check on him later."

* * *

Emma walked through the mall absentmindedly. She still felt terrible for the way she spoke to Liberty, although her sister did say she forgave her. She also felt horrible about what she would tell Freddie. Liberty's grounding included going on dates with him. She had waited until her sister left for work before going to the mall. Window-shopping always cleared her head. She walked through Claire's, looking at the many necklaces and scarves. She got bored and went over to the earrings. She reached for a pair of zipper earrings when a hand met hers. She looked at the person the hand belonged to and was shocked to see Freddie.

"Hey, Freddie. I didn't expect to see you here." She said as Freddie took her hand in his.

"I was just doing a little shopping. Carly's birthday is coming up so I thought I'd have a look around and see if I could find something for her. What's wrong? You look upset."

Emma lifted her gaze from the floor and met Freddie's. "My sister found out about last night."

"Oh… And?"

"She grounded me."

"How bad?"

Emma hesitated. "I… She won't let me go out with you."

"What?! That's insane! She can't stop you from seeing me." Freddie protested.

"She just won't let me out of the house. And it's either I listen to her or I get shipped back to Canada." Emma dropped his hand.

"You're out of the house now." Freddie stated. "So what's stopping us from seeing a movie or something? I'll take you straight home, I promise."

* * *

Freddie had just shut the door after dropping Emma off when there was a knock. "What the fuck?" He turned back around and opened it. Carly stood there wearing the face that he had come to know as her worried face. "Hey, Carly."

"Freddie, Sam just told me that you left my party last night because you were sick. I'm sorry I didn't check on you last night. I was a little... okay. I was more than a little drunk. Are you okay now?"

"Yeah. I was never sick."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I was a bit drunk myself. Me and Emma came back here to get a little privacy."

Carly's face dropped. "Freddie... Don't tell me..."

"What?"

"Did you... did you sleep with her?" Carly didn't meet his gaze.

"Well..." Freddie scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. Carly, I lost my virginity." Carly said nothing, but she looked as though she was about to cry.


	5. iWanna Move On

**iCarly: The Kids Aren't Alright**

_A Fanfiction by L-Space_

**Author's Note: Even though this story has been on hiatus, I still do not own iCarly. Sorry for the short chapter... but I got writer's block and everything I tried to add on was retarded!  
**

Chapter Five: iWanna Move On

Carly felt numb. Abandoned. Alone. Freddie Benson, who was supposed to be her friend, hadn't even consulted Carly about his want to lose his virginity. She curled up on her bed with a fuzzy purple flower pillow and her television remote. She flipped through the channels, staring into space rather than actually watching the screen. She was too enveloped in her thoughts to pay attention to anything else. It could have been thirty minutes or three hours, she hadn't even glanced at the clock, before there was a knock at her bedroom door. Carly ignored it, hoping whoever it was would just go away. Sam, however, let herself in and flopped down next to Carly.

"They fucked, then?"

"Way to be comforting, Sam." Carly snapped.

"So, you finally admit your feelings for Freddie?" Sam inquired, preparing to dodge any object that may come her way. When there was no impact, she glanced up just in time to see Carly wipe away a tear. "It's a damn good thing I brought this..." Sam snatched up her backpack from the side of the bed and fished out a bag of jelly beans and a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey. "Did I forget anything?" She gave Carly one of her big, cheesey smiles. Immediately, Carly's eyes welled up. "Carls?"

Carly flung her arms around Sam and began bawling into her shoulder. "I... I never thought it would be this bad!" she sobbed.

"Oh... Carly..." Sam wrapped her arms around her crying friend. "We won't talk about it..."

"No." Carly said in the sternest voice she could muster as she sat up. "You have been bugging me for weeks about this. And now, you're going to listen, god dammit."

Liberty stared at her computer screen. The cursor on her email blinked back at her as the argument between her and Emma repeated itself in her head. She had hurt Emma, and it made her sick to her stomach. She glanced at the taskbar clock. Four-thirty. In just thirty minutes, she would be able to leave the stuffy lawyer's office and rethink Emma's punishment.

"Emma? Are you ready for dinner?" Liberty called as she shut the front door. It didn't surprise her to see the living room deserted. Assuming that Emma had snuck out, she placed her purse on the table. "Looks like I didn't even need you." She muttered to the mushroom chicken she had picked up as a peace treaty. Liberty then turned to the fridge in search of a drink. As she looked through the shelves, she heard the back arcadia door shut. "So you went out the back gate, then?"

"You think I snuck out?" Emma retorted. "Do you have that little faith in me?"

Libery abandoned the fridge and faced her sister. "Oh, and you've never snuck out of the house before?" She laid a hand on her hip. Emma gave her a disappointed stare. Upon further inspection, Liberty reealized that Emma wasn't eved dressed to go out in public. "You swear on Mom and Dad that you didn't?"

Emma nodded in response. "I didn't want to be shipped back to Canada. I want to stay here with..." She trailed off.

"With Freddie." Liberty finished. Emma looked down at the floor and once again nodded. The sisters were silent for a moment, then with a sigh, Liberty said, "Alright. You're off grounding. Now eat."

Carly and Sam laid on Carly's bed with their heads dangling upside down. The now half-empty bag of jelly beans lay forgotten and strewn across the floor. "I never thought I would get jealous." Carly stated, staring at the television.

"It's normal, Carls." Sam replied.

"I just took it for granted. I presumed that he'd always wait for me."

"He's a guy. They have one thing in mind and they won't wait forever to get it. Sorry to tell you."

Carly picked up a jelly bean and rolled onto her stomach. "It's okay." She mumbled. "Maybe... I needed to hear this, because now, I know what I want.

Sam propped herself up on her elbow. "And what is that?"

Carly fiddled with the jelly bean. "Maybe... maybe he's giving up on me. It's not fair for me to get upset. I should have been thinking of his feelings... and instead, I've only thought about myself." She looked down at her hands. "So, I want... I want to move on. Forget about anything that could have been between me and Freddie."

"That's good, Carly." Sam said. She reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind Carly's ear.


End file.
